Mainstem Malt

[Epos7]

I'm going to start playing with some locally malted grain from these guys:

http://www.mainstemmalt.com/

I typically use Great Western organic 2-row and organic white wheat as my base malts. I find they taste better, with more complexity, than their non-organic counterparts from Great Western.

Mainstem malt doesn't claim to be organic, though they are comparable in price to organic malts. Their 2-row is a little darker, maybe more like a Maris Otter.

They also sell Munich Wheat Malt, something I haven't seen before. I'm going to play with that in a recipe this week.

Just curious if anyone else has tried their grains. A number of breweries have:

http://www.mainstemmalt.com/made-with-mainstem/

 

[MainstemMalt]

Hey Epos7-

Thanks so much for the interest in Mainstem Malt! Indeed, everything's Salmon-Safe Certified as opposed to organic, which is an effort to focus on water quality and riparian habitat in our production locales. Everything's also dry-farmed (dryland grown), which dramatically reduces the water footprint of beer compared to using Great Western malts (made with mostly irrigated grains). And know that adding an organic line is of longer term interest to us.

We also believe that by not using irrigation, we can get more intense flavor and even "terroir" through to the finished malt. It's the same philosophy behind old-world/dry-farmed wines. So far so good, when it comes to the beer that's being produced. We'll see in time how it all shifts from season to season, and from locale to locale.

In terms of pricing, we're at a premium largely because all of our grains are malted in small batches at craft malt facilities. So kind of an apples and oranges comparison between us and Great Western. In Spokane, we malt in 4.5 ton batch sizes (finished malt). In Mt. Vernon, we malt in 9 ton batch sizes. For comparison, Great Western's smaller Vancouver facility malts in 200 ton batches. You can learn more about the craft malt movement at: www.craftmalting.com

Curious to hear how you've enjoyed using our malts so far. We're learning every day about the connections between grain production, malting and brewing processes, and beer flavor/quality. Because we're small, we can pivot rather quickly. Feedback from brewers like you helps to keep us moving in the right direction.

All the best,
Phil Neumann

 

[Picobrew]

Hey Yall! I've just done 6 brews in a row exclusively with Genie Pils Malt. I've been breaking in new systems and practices after a long hiatus. I thought I'd keep the malt consistent to stabilize at least one variable. I've really enjoyed the beers, but I've had trouble with efficiency. I think it's attributable to my new mashing system (anvil foundry) but was wondering if anyone had anything to say about what to expect with Mainstem Genie vs say Weyermann.